Bold Ideas with Big Impact®

Project Lead(s): Michaela Hynie, Benoite Umubyeyi

In Rwanda, 10 years after the 1994 genocide, an estimated 28% of the population suffers post-traumatic stress disorder. Nursing and mid-wife students in Rwanda will be trained in mental health issues — to identify, for example, mothers who need referrals for depression. The team will provide training in maternal mental health to community health workers, who will support new mothers in targeted communities, conducting weekly home visits for six months. Helping new mothers through depression will reduce a major contributor to child malnutrition.